


Life Changing Field Trip

by TuesdayWriter



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Protective Toph Beifong, Toph Beifong & Zuko Friendship, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27399487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TuesdayWriter/pseuds/TuesdayWriter
Summary: The Toph/ Zuko Field Trip we deserve.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	Life Changing Field Trip

**Author's Note:**

> This idea just came to me and I had to write it. Toph getting the field trip she deserves and Zuko getting the little sister he deserves. I wrote this all in one go, in the middle of the night, while dealing with election induced anxiety. So, I hope you all enjoy my attempt to destress! 
> 
> Thanks!

She already knew Aang wasn’t anywhere on the island. She could feel that much, but she did want her field trip with Zuko so she jumped at her chance to join him on the search. She also thought it would be a good opportunity to talk to him about some stuff the rest of the gaang wouldn’t understand. She and Zuko had a very unique upbringings and she knew that the others just didn’t understand. Aang grew up with the Air Nomads whose core belief system was basically do whatever you want and Katara and Sokka had great relationships with their parents, their grandma even encouraged them to go with Aang. Zuko was the only other one who knew what it was like to grow up in high society. He was the only one who could really understand everything she went through. 

Truth be told, she had not heard back from her parents since Katara helped her send that letter and, if she was being honest with herself, she was worried that something could go wrong during Sozin’s comet. It was making her think about her family and what they meant to her and what she meant, or didn’t mean to them. She knew that Iroh was great at making people feel better and she imagined some of that had to have rubbed off on Zuko. Katara even said that talking to Zuko was really helpful. 

“Zuko, can I talk to you about something?” He was walking a little ahead of her but she could tell by the sound of his voice that he turned his head to respond to her. 

“What about?”

Toph wasn’t sure how much Zuko actually knew about her. So she just started at the beginning.

“Well, I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this to you but, I’m a Bei Fong.” Zuko paused for a second as Toph caught up to him and they started walking in line. 

“No, I didn’t know. I think I met your father a few years ago. I didn’t know he had a child.” She wasn’t surprised that her father didn’t talk about her on his big fancy trips to the Fire Lord’s house. Having a kid with a disability wasn’t exactly something hat was looked favorably upon in upper society. It’s why she was hidden away. “No, he wouldn’t have mentioned me. Along with being blind, I was kind of a problem child.”

She knew that Zuko wouldn’t ask her what being blind had to do with him not mentioning her. He knew upper society was all about assimilating. She wouldn’t have to talk about expectations like she with the rest of the gaang. “I started earth bending when I was 5. I tried to explain to them what I could do but they refused to listen, so I ran away.” He gave a slight laugh, which he imagined was him knowing that this was the standard rebellion for all high society kids. 

“Anyway, that’s when I first met the badger moles. Working with them taught me how to really focus my Earthbending so I could ‘see’. I think I snuck out every day for over a year before they finally noticed. My dad went crazy. He told me how dangerous it was for a child to be out on her own and, of course, if someone found out I was his daughter, they could kidnap me for ransom. Which is something every 6 year old wants to hear.” 

“Yeah, well my father used to tell Azula he would love to see what she would do to anyone who would attempt to kidnap her.”

“Yikes, what did he say to you?” His steps faltered for a second. “He made it very clear that I didn’t have to worry about anyone wanting to take me.” 

“How is that man related to Iroh?! He’s such a jerk!” She could feel the tension rolling off Zuko. Talking about his dad always seemed to put him in a bad mood but she knew Aang being gone just added to everyone’s stress.

“Yeah, he’s a huge jerk. So, what were you saying about your parents?”

“Oh, well. I finally convinced them to let me learn Earthbending. Of course, they hired the best Earthbending teacher in the Earth Kingdom, Mater Yu. I thought I was really going to get somewhere but Master Yu treated me like a baby. I didn’t mind at first. I was used to people treating me like I wasn’t capable. But after 3 years, he still refused to teach me how to break rocks. All he would show me was how to move some pebbles around the garden. And every time I showed him I could do more he called it ‘a lack of self-control’ and wouldn’t let me bend at all. He’d just show me more stances. Luckily, I was still sneaking out to work with the badger moles. One night when I was coming back from training, I found the Earth Rumble tournament. After going a few times, I knew I could take all those losers. So, I tried to join but Xin Fu wouldn’t let me. He said to come back when I was older and when I had the entrance fees.”

“They were now walking along the beach, Zuko still ahead of her just listening to what she had to say. If it was anyone else, Toph would wonder if he was still listening, but she knew Zuko was just the silent type. She fast walked for a few steps just to fall in line next to him and continued her story. 

“Anyway, so the next day I tried to steal the entrance fee from my parents.”

“You what?!”

“I know, it was dumb. If I had asked, they probably would have given it to me, but I was still mad at them for always hiding me away and treating me like a fragile baby or like something they were ashamed of. Also, I didn’t need their help, I just needed their money. So, I tried to take it, but my dad caught me. He was mad. He told me that he was going to cancel my Earth Bending lessons all together, because he knew it was the only thing I cared about. So, I was 9 years old and I ran away again.” Zuko had pulled ahead of her again but she heard him give an, “uh-huh”, so she knew he could still hear her but he sounded a bit annoyed so she thought she should get to the point. 

“I know I shouldn’t complain. My parents gave me everything I ever asked for, but they never gave me the one thing I really wanted…their love. You know what I mean?” He stopped and turned back towards her. He gave a heavy sigh and sat down on the beach. 

“Look, I know you had a rough childhood, but at least your parents were trying to protect you. I’m not saying what they did was right, they should have listened to you and considered your feelings, but they weren’t trying to hurt you.”

She sat down on the sand next to him, “I don’t know, I think keeping me locked up and not letting me have friends and constantly telling me that I was weak was pretty hurtful.” She loved how easy it was to make him feel awkward. 

“Sorry, that is pretty terrible, but I still think they were working in your best interests. My father didn’t give me this scar because he was trying to protect me.” 

She sat up and turned towards him. She had just remembered the kid at the theater who told him his scar was on the wrong side. She didn’t really think about it that night, thinking it was something else that the Ember Island Players has exaggerated but it must be a big deal if he was bringing it up now. 

“No one has ever talked about your scar before. Where is it? Is it big?”

He shuffled a little, clearly uncomfortable. “Oh, uh, it’s on my face and, yeah, I think so.”

“And your father gave it to you? Was it a training accident?”

“It was no accident. He did it intentionally. He wanted to teach me a lesson.”

A silence passed between them. For once, Toph was at a loss for something to say. She knew sorry wouldn’t be enough, plenty of people told her they were sorry that she was blind. It usually just made her feel worse. She also knew that people had issues with their physical appearance that she didn’t understand. She wondered if Zuko cared about his appearance. She heard Sokka comment on his shaggy hair and she knew he wore a hood when they went out to cover his face. Was it because he didn’t want his scar to been seen? She usually wasn’t that interested in seeing what peopled looked like but she wanted to ‘see’ his scar. 

“Zuko…can I… can I touch your face?” 

Zuko immediately tensed next to her “What!” 

She crawled a little closer to him. “I just…it’s the only way I can see your scar.”

Zuko’s heartrate went up. Toph would have never thought of Zuko as someone who cared about appearances. What’s the big deal with a scar? She knew that she had one on her leg that she got from crawling around in the caves with the badger moles. The skin just felt a little bit flatter than her normal skin and her mother had once told her that the scar was only a slightly different color than her skin tone. She just wanted to get an idea of what his scar looked like but she understood if he didn’t want her touching it. She was just about to punch him in the shoulder and tell him never mind when he said “Okay.”

He tucked his legs under himself and was sitting crossed legged and she crawled in front of him and sat on her knees. 

“Which side…”

“It’s on my left.”

Tension was rolling off him. It was making Toph nervous. She reached out to the left side of his face, starting at his chin. She was feeling around his jaw line. It was hard to discern any scarred skin under the slight layer of stubble so she was taking her time. 

“You’ll have to move up, it’s around my eye.”

Toph lifted her hand off his jaw and moved it up and when she thought she was near his eye she lowered her hand to his skin again. She jerked it away almost immediately. She couldn’t describe what she felt, but it wasn’t like any scar that she knew of. This felt more like a burn. She placed her hand back on the scar and moved it around until she found where the burn met flat skin. She followed it to his ear and up and around the area above his eye. It was large, larger than she thought it was going to be, even with his warning. It felt nothing like her scar. It was similar to a scab but more...bubbly? Some parts of it were softer than others. She remembered what her mother told her about the color of her own scar and she asked Zuko, “Is the color a lot different from your skin tone?”

“Yeah. Maybe imagine a piece of metal on the sand? It’s very different and it stands out a lot.” 

His description was actually very helpful. She was suddenly really emotional. She didn’t know why. She currently had her hand flat against his face and the scar extended beyond the reach of her fingertips. She couldn’t help but start crying. She threw her arms around Zuko’s neck and started crying on his shoulder. He tensed even further and then relaxed and placed a hand on her back.

“Does it look that bad?” 

She let out a small laugh as she buried her head further into his shoulder. “That’s not funny.”

“If it’s not funny, why did you laugh?” 

She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. She hated when people told her they were sorry when she told them she was blind, but she didn’t know what else to say. And she wasn’t sorry that he had a scar; she was sorry that his father did it to him, she was sorry that it took up so much of his face and she was sorry that it bothered him. “I’m sorry.”

Zuko stood up and then grabbed her hands to pull her up with him. “It’s okay. Come on, let’s head back to the house. I don’t think Aang is out here.” He started walking away but Toph grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards her. She wrapped her arms around his waist in a proper hug. He wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and patted her on the head with the other. “It’s really not that bad, I’m used to it. I hardly even notice it anymore.”

“You’re lying.” She mumbled and she hugged him tighter, burying her face in his torso. 

“Yeah, I am. But maybe, one day, I won’t be. Now, let’s get back to the house and get you cleaned up. I don’t want everyone to think I did something to make you cry.” She released him from the hug and have him a light punch in the gut. 

“Like you could do anything to make me cry, Sparky.”

They walked back to the beach house in silence. Zuko’s heart rate was no longer racing. She could tell that he was relaxed and that made her feel good. She wished she could do more for him. She wished his uncle was here for him to talk to. She vowed that if she ever ran into the Jerk Lord, she would make sure to throw some very big rocks at him and make sure that it hurt. 

As they were walking up from the beach Sokka yelled over to them.

“Did you guys find Aang?”

“Do you see Aang, Sokka?” Zuko yelled back at him.

“No, but you could have let him go for a swim.”

“He’s not swimming, Sokka. Are Katara and Suki back?”

“No, hopefully that’s a good sign. Did you enjoy your field trip with Zuko, Toph?”

“Pfft, no! Worst field trip ever!” She shoved Sokka as she made her way to the wash room so she could clean her face. As she walked away she heard the two boys talking. 

“What’s her problem? What happened between you two?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just not that good at pep talks.”

Toph smiled to herself as she walked farther into the house. Even from this distance, she could tell Zuko was lying.


End file.
